ICDZ honours young directors
THE Institute of Corporate Directors Zimbabwe (ICDZ) recently honoured 40 Most Influential Young Leaders who performed exceptionally well in 2020.
e young directors’ contributions have had a sustainable impact on the country’s economic growth.
It is against this background that as ICDZ we took lead and demonstrated the value of excellence in young corporate directorship.
ICDZ's stewardship aims at enlightening the young crop and encourage them to anticipate, influence, and meet boardroom challenges.
As part of our objectives we intend to develop Young Corporate Directors into Certified Corporate Directors and Professional Directors -Pro.D through our certification programmes.
Why Young Corporate Director Diversity matters in Zimbabwe?
Diversity in the boardroom has been a big discussion point worldwide in recent years. With disruption in almost every sector of the economy, and the pace of technological changes, businesses need to adapt and respond quickly to keep up and survive. Having decisions made by a narrow demographic with a narrow perspective makes it difficult to adequately respond to complex problems that affect an increasingly diverse population.
Most boards of companies, institutions and organisations are controlled by a narrow group of the population — the ‘pale, male and stale’ demographic. e loudest voice on diversity has been around the low female representation on boards; however, there are other demographics of stakeholders that are under-represented.
Staying relevant in a world that is constantly changing is challenging for many organisations.
To plan for the future and the risks that come with change, best practices direct boards to be inquisitive, think strategically, and remain relevant and connected to their communities. But how can boards, even with the best intentions, be responsive to the future when 83% of board members are over the age of 40? How can we ensure that boards are asking meaningful questions, approaching problems from fresh perspectives, and connecting with new areas of the community if all of the members share similar life experiences?
Because young people are a large, fastmoving demographic that almost every business needs to embrace. Current buyer-centric marketing techniques require businesses to first understand what their customer wants as an individual.
Including young people can help ensure that services, products, events or decisions are more relevant and appropriate to their stakeholder base.
To navigate a fluid landscape, it is increasingly important for organisations to have the right board infrastructure in place — an infrastructure that is capable of capturing the insights and ideas of a community’s young corporate directors, and then use that knowledge to evaluate the future needs of their organisations.